Not All Who Wander Are Lost
by Hai Letto
Summary: A Spirited Away/ My Neighbor Totoro crossover. Satsuki and Mei wander into the spirit world and meet Chihiro who has found her way back 13 years later. The girls must help the spirit world and each other to get home.


I know the order of these stories doesn't fit, but I'm manipulating them a bit to make my idea work. What's the fun of being an author if you can't tweak a few things now and then? I don't own them, by the way.

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"Mei! Where did you go?" Satsuki yelled.

"Over here Satsuki. I want to show Totoro my birthday present."

Satsuki looked around her. She was standing in the little clearing where the tunnel of bushes from her yard normally joined the tunnel to Totoro's tree. Today however there were two tunnels across from her own. She had heard Mei's voice from the tunnel to the left. Satsuki entered it, hoping fervently that it led nowhere dangerous. A few seconds later, she emergedfrom the tunnel and found Mei staring ahead of her, motionless, her small orchid in its flowerpot clutched to her chest.

"Where are we Satsuki?" she asked.

Satsuki looked around. At the mouth of the tunnel, the ground had changed from packed dirt to stone pavers stacked like stairs which led down to their right and up to their left. Across the path there were closely-packed buildings which appeared to be all restaurants. "I don't know Mei. I've never seen this before. Let's go back." She turned to renter the tunnel but was met with a solid bush. She dropped to her knees to peer under the leaves, but saw no passageways: only branches. Mei had knelt by her to look too and when she realized the tunnel had closed she whimpered.

"Where did the tunnel go? Where's Totoro? I wanna go back to Mommy!"

"We'll be okay Mei," Satsuki tried to reassure her while not feeling reassured at all herself. "Let's go up higher and see if we can see anything to tell us where we are."

The sisters got to their feet and began to climb up the path, passing the deserted restaurants with their delicious smells. They reached the top of the path and looked around them. Behind them and to their sides was restaurant upon restaurant with no one visible in any of them. In front of them was a huge bathhouse painted in red and gold. It towered over the girls who stood staring at it, open-mouthed. Satsuki shook herself and looked around again. "How could there be so many open restaurants with no one around? And how could they be in our woods?" she wondered. Suddenly, a movement caught her eye and she saw a woman duck out of one of the restaurants and look around. As she looked up the stairs, she saw the girls at the top of the stairs, framed by a beautiful sunset. The woman cursed under her breath and started to run up the stairs toward the girls. Their clothes told her they were human, sisters by the look of them, and the lights were about to be lit. She had been unsure enough about what would happen to her herself when she got here, let alone what might happen to two small human children. She soon reached the top and Satsuki took a protective step in front of Mei.

"Please don't be frightened, but there's no time for questions right now," she said quickly. "I can get you home but we have to move very fast. You have to follow me."

Satsuki jumped and Mei gasped as a light near them popped on. Satsuki frowned as the woman swore. The woman looked up at the bathhouse and noticed shapes moving behind the windows, lighting lamps.

"We need to run. Little one, give your flower to your sister. I'm going to pick you up. We can move faster that way, ok?"

Mei handed her flowerpot to Satsuki and held her arms up to the woman. Satsuki kept a sharp eye on the woman who was now holding her sister, but she felt somewhere inside her that she could trust the woman.

"We need to run across this bridge. Quickly now girls. When we get across, duck into the garden to your left."

Satsuki and the woman started to run across the bridge, the orchid shaking in Satsuki's arms, Mei bouncing in the woman's. They reached the other side of the bridge quickly and the woman made it into the garden after Satsuki just before the first frog came out to the bridge to meet their guests. The woman set Mei down next to her sister and crouched in front of the girls, signaling them to do the same. "I don't want us to be seen," she said as an explanation.

"Who are you?" Satsuki asked. "What is this place?" Her voice was shaky.

"My name is Chihiro," said the woman. "And this is a bathhouse for the spirits."

"You mean we're in the spirit world?" Satsuki gasped.

Chihiro nodded. "I came here when I was close to your age," she said to Satsuki. "I have friends here who can help you get back to your parents."

At the mention of her parents, Mei, who had been sitting in quiet shock, dissolved into tears. "I want my mommy," she sobbed.

Satsuki threw her arms around her sister. "It's okay Mei. Chihiro can help us get home to Mom and Dad."

Chihiro sincerely hoped that she could indeed fulfill her promise. She put a hand on Mei's arm and said earnestly, "Mei, I promise to do my best to get you home to your mommy. I know this is scary, but you need to be a brave girl, okay?

Mei sniffled and set her chin, wiping her eyes determinedly with her sleeve. "I'm not scared," she declared.

Chihiro chuckled inwardly. This little girl had a strong spirit. "Thank you Mei." She turned to Satsuki. "What is your name?"

"It's Satsuki," she replied. "Can you really get us home?"

"I hope so Satsuki. I hope so."


End file.
